AUBURN HILLS, Mich. - Iowa State's Nick Gallick looked like a guy about to meet the fate most unseeded wrestlers experience when they face the No. 3 seed in the first round of the NCAA Championships.

The Cyclone freshman was turned to his back early and quickly trailed 5-0 in his 133-pound match against No. 3 seed Adam Frey of Cornell.

But Gallick, brother of 2006 NCAA champion Nate Gallick of Iowa State, appear unfazed by the early deficit as he caught Frey on his back to score a stunning pin as the NCAA Championships opened Thursday at The Palace of Auburn Hills. The pin came with 19 seconds left in the first period.

Gallick provided an early spark for the second-ranked Cyclones, who stand in third place with 20 points after the first of six sessions in the three-day tournament. Iowa State went 7-3 in the first round.

"We need all the bonus points we can get," Gallick said. "I just stuck to the plan the coaches had for me, which was to keep wrestling hard the whole time. I found an opening and took advantage of it."

Top-ranked Minnesota, as expected, grabbed the early lead with 22 points. The Golden Gophers went a perfect 9-0 in the opening round. Third-ranked Missouri was second with 20.5 points despite seeing No. 1 seed Max Askren (197) suffer a first-round upset.

Penn State, ranked 11th, was a surprising fourth with 18 points. The Nittany Lions went 7-0 in the first round. Four-time defending champion and No. 4 Oklahoma State was 10th with 10 points and five wrestlers making the second round.

Max Askren's loss marked the first time since 2003 that a No. 1 seed had lost in the first round. It marked the 13th time a No. 1 seed had fallen in the first round of the NCAA tournament.

Cal State Bakersfield sophomore Brandon Halsey, a transfer from Fresno State, delivered the biggest shocker of the first round when he stunned Max Askren 5-4 at 197 pounds. Askren was in deep on a number of leg shots late in the match, but Halsey fought him off to earn the win.

Halsey had just a 2-3 record last year for Fresno State, missing most of the season with a back injury. He then had to change schools after Fresno State dropped its program following the 2005-06 season.

"It feels really good to do something like that after all I've been through," Halsey said. "It was real upsetting when Fresno State dropped their program. It caught us by surprise. I planned on spending my whole career at Fresno and then you end up having to go somewhere else.

"I just tried to make the best of the situation and Bakersfield is a real good fit for me. Our coaches push us real hard and I feel like I'm part of a real good, real stable program now."

Iowa State did suffer a mild early upset when No. 10 Nick Fanthorpe of ISU fell 9-4 to unranked Michael Sees of Bloomsburg in the first round.

Heavily favored Minnesota is seeking its third NCAA title of the decade after winning titles in 2001 and 2002.

National champion teammates Cole Konrad (heavyweight) and Dustin Schlatter (149) of Minnesota extended their winning streaks by passing their first tests Tuesday. Konrad has won 72 consecutive matches and Schlatter 63 in a row.

Schlatter held off Nebraska freshman Jordan Burroughs 3-2 in the first round. The sophomore is now 75-1 in his career. Konrad earned an 8-2 first-round win over Oklahoma State freshman Jared Rosholt.

Minnesota received an unexpected early bonus when unseeded Tyler Safratowich (165) upset No. 8 Steve Anceravage of Cornell 8-4 in the first round.

Two-time NCAA champion Johny Hendricks (165) of Oklahoma State recorded a first-period fall over Daniel Atondo of Cal State Bakersfield. Hendricks has won 53 straight matches.

Hendricks' OSU teammate, sophomore Brandon Mason (174), knocked off No. 3 seed Steve Luke of Michigan 2-1 in the first round. Mason rode Luke out in the second period and escaped in the third period to take a 2-0 lead. Mason was dinged for stalling late in the match, giving Luke a point. But Mason held off Luke's shot attempts to prevail.

"(Luke) is a tough kid - it's real hard to get to his legs and he's real solid," Mason said. "Luckily, he picked down in the second period and I was able to ride him out. I really don't think I should've got called for stalling in the third period, but it happens. You can't leave it in the ref's hands."

Mason, one win short of being an All-American, was asked about the tough draws his team received to start the tournament where four unseeded Cowboys drew opponents all seeded in the top three.

"In my mind, Steve Luke got a horrible draw," Mason said. "We think our opponents got horrible draws because they drew us. We might not win them all, but we're going to give them hell every single match.

"I was actually happy with the draw that I got. I'm basically the third seed now for the tournament since I took that guy out. Hopefully, I can keep this going."

Reigning national champion and Hodge Trophy winner Ben Askren of Missouri raised his winning streak to 83 straight matches with a pair of lopsided wins in Thursday's first session at 174. Askren, a senior, has placed second, second and first in his previous three NCAA appearances. He was named Outstanding Wrestler at the 2006 national tournament.

Unseeded junior Don Fisch of Rider pulled off the first big upset of the tournament when he knocked off No. 5 seed Dominick Moyer of Nebraska 7-4 in the first round at 141. Fisch piled up over two minutes of riding time and controlled the match on his feet in the win.

"I knew he was real lanky, and I knew I would be stronger than him," Fisch said. "I didn't really have a scouting report on him. I just knew I could take him down and ride him. I was pretty confident going into the match."